Psalms 145:20 - "The Lord preserveth all that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy."

In the Old Testament the original word sheol, meaning the grave, was translated using the word hell. In the New Testament the original word hades, meaning the grave, was translated also using the word hell. So, in many places, the word hell just was referring to a sepulcher or the grave.

But in this study we want the word hell-fire from the original word geenna.

Hell is the fire that will ignite upon the surface of the planet to purify the earth and destroy Satan, the fallen angels, and the wicked who served and obeyed the devil. It will be after the second resurrection, the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:29) It takes place after the millennium when Christ returns with the New Jerusalem and the saints to establish the Kingdom of God on the New Earth. (Rev. 20:7-15)

"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven: and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Malachi 4:1)

"And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts." (Malachi 4:3)

By the time you could go out the door of the New Jerusalem to walk upon the residual layer of ashes the fire has completely died out. These are the ashes of any combustible material on the earth, including the people who preferred to serve self and Satan than to accept the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The fire has died out, but the results are eternal as in the fires of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Jude 7)

Imagine you were among the saved ones inside the walls of the New Jerusalem, before the fire came down, and you could look out through the transparency of the walls and could see the vast multitude of the wicked, the billions and billions of people the Lord resurrected to hear the verdict of the Grand Judgment Day upon each one outside the walls. Cain could be recognized among the tallest people on earth, then the famous rebels through the centuries of history, and at last the little people, our contemporaneous unbelievers who despised the Savior and His offer of salvation and eternal life. "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." (Rev. 22:15: 21:8, 27)

"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Rev.20:9)

No one could put out the unquenchable fires of hell until the wicked are reduced to ashes, including Satan, the root of all evil. The fires were burning forever and ever until all organic material was converted into ashes. And on those ashes the Lord is making a new creation before the eyes of the people saved for His Eternal Kingdom. (Rev. 21; 22)

Basic biblical truth to understand human nature:

Only God is immortal. (1 Timothy 6:15, 16)

God created man as a mortal being. (Gen. 2:17)

Man does not have a soul, man is a living soul. (Gen. 2:7)

The greatest lie ever told Eve by the serpent: "Ye shall not surely die...ye shall be as gods." (Gen. 3:4, 5) And the tradition of the immortality of the soul has spread out all over the world. No wonder, on hell day, the multitude outside the walls of the New Jerusalem, under condemnation, is larger than the one saved inside the city, who chose to love the Lord God.

"Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

Many people want to keep hell burning forever, an eternal torment on the despicable sinners because that is what they believed, that is what they were told. But thanks God for explaining in His Word the process to apply His mercy and His justice to sin and rebellion in this world. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) And for those who rejected the love of God, the salvation provided by the death, resurrection and life of the Son of God, hell is only a moment in time to complete their total destruction: they will be gone forever, no more suffering, no more life.

After the fire, when the earth cools down, and the Creator brings forth new life upon the earth, a new vegetation, and a new variety of animals of all kind, there is peace of mind in any and all of the redeemed ones: they know now, if someone was lost within their family, that no one is out there suffering the agony of a burning fire.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from theirs eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall then be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Rev. 21:4)